Video One: Supercut

This is the first video essay I ever made (in this class and also in general). The narrator is such a crucial character in Jane the Virgin, and it was interesting to delve into how he introduced various characters in the pilot episode. This supercut thus has two functions: it introduces characters for viewers through the narrator’s eyes and allows them to compare and contrast them, and it explores the function of the narrator on the show.

Video Two: PechuKucha

I was a little intimidated by the pechukucha form at first. I usually don’t like restrictive guidelines when it comes to creative work, but I had so much fun making this. In terms of my process making this: I chose the audio track first, then filled it in with various clips cut from across the episode. I played around with the order of the clips so that they matched the audio that aligned with them to some extent, and was really satisfied with the final result. I think it captures a lot of the essence of Jane the Virgin, and is pretty funny both for people who already knew the show and those that are new to it.

Video Three: Desktop Documentary

I really loved learning about desktop documentaries, and was excited to try making one myself. Since I’m a writer, I loved how prominently writing was used through this form, and made use of it in my own desktop doc. I also used this video as an opportunity to blend together my academic interests, which was fun. I thought this was crucial to include in my portfolio since it served as the inspiration for my final project.

Video Four: Final Project

This final project was ambitious, to say the least. It encompassed the entirety of the Jane the Virgin series (all 100 episodes of it) and explored the ways in which it functions as a meta-telenovela. Since it was inspired by my desktop doc, I debated making it a desktop doc as well but decided against it, since I made it over such a long period of time. However, it does contain some elements of the desktop doc (screen recordings of windows on my laptop, for example). Making this video essay felt almost like rediscovering Jane the Virgin— I came to see it in a new light and appreciate it so much more since I spent so much time researching it and learning about the various techniques/devices it employed and the behind-the-scenes of it in general. Although this video was difficult to make, it was also incredibly gratifying, and I feel that it showcases my ability to blend in-depth television analysis with videographic elements.

Video Five: Video Response

I spent so long doing research for this video essay, which I made as a response to Tony Zhou’s “A Brief Look at Texting and the Internet in Film”. While I scrubbed through many (many) shows and films from the past decade, I decided to narrow my focus on the TV show “Woke” after watching it on Hulu recently. I think it does such a good job integrating technology usage into its aesthetic in a way that is entertaining for audience members, and tried to capture how it does this in my video essay.